I came across this memorial to a Sergeant W. Maguire in Burnley Cemetery yesterday. It was probably with a family grave originally, but there are no marked graves around it now. The only Sergeant W. Maguire in the CWGC database, either WW1 or 2, is the man below. Can anyone link him to Burnley? MAGUIRE, WALTER Rank: Serjeant Service No: 3377191 Date of Death: 22/04/1946 Age: 47 Regiment/Service: Royal Army Service Corps Grave Reference: 11. E. 3. Cemetery: KRANJI WAR CEMETERY Casualty Details
This seems like the right person Bernice. Name: Walter Maguire Given Initials: W Rank: Serjeant Death Date: 22 Apr 1946 Number: 3377191 Birth Place: Burnley Residence: Burnley Branch at Enlistment: Other Corps Theatre of War: Malaya Regiment at Death: Royal Army Service Corps His will states he was living at 56 Scarlett street, Burnley. Died 22 Apr,1946, Singapore. Mike.
Berenice You may need to look at Scottish records, he doesn't seem to appear on UK & Ireland accept perhaps for a marriage in 1933 as below Name: Walter H Maquire Date of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep 1933 Registration district: Croydon Inferred County: Surrey Spouse: Madge C Stanger Volume Number: 2a Page Number: 1408 TD
TD he has a family tree on Ancestry and a census for 1901. Name: Walter Maguire Age: 2 Estimated birth year: abt 1899 Relation to Head: Son Gender: Male Father: John Maguire Mother: Charlotta Maguire Birth Place: Burnley, Lancashire, England Civil Parish: Burnley Ecclesiastical parish: Habergham Eaves Holy Trinity County/Island: Lancashire Country: England
birth April 1899 • Burnley, Lancashire, England 1899 (AGE) Residence 1901 • Burnley, Lancashire, England Relation to Head of House: Son 1901 2 Death of Mother Charlotta(1859–1935) Mar 1935 • Burnley, Lancashire, England 1935 35 Residence 1941 • Burnley, Great Britain 1941 42 Death 22 Apr 1946 • Malaya, theatre of war Address in Burnley had been 56 Scarlett Street. £1056 8s 2d to sister Susan wife of Fred Greenwood 1946 47 Burial Kranji War Cemetary, Singapore
Thank you, all. It looked as though there might have been some headstone clearing in the past, unless that area was all unmarked graves.
It might well be that last section of his parents grave - which may or may not have a reference to his wife (if he was married) based on the fact his probate was not paid to a wife. TD Wonder if its possible to find out who else is buried in that same plot
There would be burial records in the Council Cemeteries department. The problem would be, with so few identifiable graves in that area, identifying the exact spot, unless someone from the Cemeteries Dept. was there to help.
I am the great niece of Fred Greenwood. In 1947, Susan Maguire Greenwood, Walter's sister and wife of Fred Greenwood, took her own life at the family home (44 Wynotham Street) in Burnley. According to the newspaper report in the Burnley Express, she had been suffering severe depression following her brother's death the previous year.
Thank you, TD. It's very sad that it ended in this horrible way. Walter and Susan were obviously very close, both single and living together at 56 Scarlett Street, Burnley in the 1939 register. Cheers, Sue
Problems like this weren't spoken about in those days, and were usually kept quiet and behind closed doors without any sort of support network (as they would call it today), nowadays people sneeze and expect support and benefits. For Information England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), Name: Susan Greenwood Death Date: 10 Aug 1947 Death Place: Burnley Probate Date: 13 Dec 1947 Registry: London, England England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 Name: Susan Greenwood Death Age: 53 Birth Date: abt 1894 Registration Date: Sep 1947 Registration district: Burnley Inferred County: Lancashire Volume: 10b Page: 528 TD